Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu had eleven sons, and it is said that the wisest of them was the fourth son, Liu Yang, so why is he said to be the smartest? Two examples are given in the history books.
After the world was decided, in order to find out how much land, how much population, and how much GDP there was in the Eastern Han Dynasty, Liu Xiu ordered a national economic census.
After receiving the order, the local officials began to act. However, the scales mastered by different localities are different, some preferential treatment is strong, and some invade small people.
Soon after, Liu Xiu asked various localities to report on the progress of the census work. At that time, Cai Lun did not have papermaking! The folds are written on bamboo chips.
So the counties handed over a large pile of bamboo chips. When Liu Xiu was flipping through the recitals, he accidentally found that there were faint words on the back of the recitals written by Chen Liujun.
What's written on it? After careful identification, it is written that "Yingchuan and Hongnong can ask, but Henan and Nanyang cannot be asked." Liu Xiu asked Chen Liujun what was going on.
The officials of Chen Liu County lied that the bamboo piece was picked up on Changshou Street, because when writing the recital, they found that the bamboo pieces brought were not enough, so they wasted it.
After Liu Xiu listened, he couldn't help but get angry, and said in his heart, Do you think I'm so stupid that you fooled me like this, do you still want me to praise your hard work?
At this time, the 12-year-old Liu Yang (later renamed Liu Zhuang, succeeding to the throne as Emperor Ming of Han) was playing behind the main hall. He said to Liu Xiu, I know what is going on.
After getting permission, Liu Yang said that it was because the small official had accepted the instructions of the county sheriff and wanted to inquire about the measurement of land in other counties in order to compare it with himself.
When Liu Xiu heard this, he felt that what he said was reasonable, and he wanted to further examine him, so he asked Liu Yang: "If this is the case, why can't Henan and Nanyang ask?" ”
Liu Yang explained: Henan County is the seat of the capital city, and there are many officials; Nanyang County is the emperor's hometown and has many relatives; these two places are very special, so they cannot be used as reference objects.
Therefore, Liu Xiu ordered his men to interrogate the official, and the official's confession was the same as Liu Yang had guessed. Liu Xiu therefore loved Liu Yang more and more and felt that he was a prodigy.
On another occasion, Shan Chen, Fu Zhen, and others gathered in YuanwuCheng to rebel, and Liu Xiu ordered Zang Gong to lead troops to quell the rebellion. The city was besieged, but it could not be attacked for a long time, and the soldiers suffered serious casualties.
Liu Xiu summoned the princes and ministers to discuss countermeasures. Everyone believes that under the heavy reward there will be brave men. The arrest of the main culprit should be rewarded with a heavy reward. Only 16-year-old Liu Yang disagrees with this statement.
He said that these people were coerced by Shan Chen, Fu Zhen, and others to rebel, and when they saw the imperial army coming to put down the rebellion, some people must have already regretted it, wanted to flee, and wanted to surrender.
However, we were too tightly packed, and those people could not find the opportunity. We should open up and let them out. By then, it would have been easy to beat them.
Liu Xiu agreed with Liu Yang's approach, so he ordered Zang Gong to retreat and lift the siege. The thieves scattered and fled, and the army soon took the original WuCheng.
If it is said that 16-year-old Liu Yang knows about the three and one, it is not unusual. That 12-year-old Liu Yang knew that people were sophisticated, and he was a bit precocious.
So, is Liu Yang really as smart as the history books say? Dapeng believes that it cannot be ruled out that Liu Yang hired a think tank around him in order to compete for the throne.
At first, because of the power of the Guo family, Liu Xiu had to make Guo Shengtong an empress, and Liu Qiang, the eldest son born to Guo Hou, was naturally made crown prince.
As we all know, the relationship between Liu Xiu and Guo Shengtong is not very good, Liu Xiu is more fond of Liu Yang's mother Yin Lihua, once wanted to set her up as the queen, but was rejected by Yin Lihua.
Although Liu Yang is not the eldest son of Concubine, isn't there still a statement about Li Xian? Therefore, the strategists around Liu Yang tried to dress Liu Yang as a genius child.
After Liu Yang's unremitting efforts, coupled with Empress Guo's indeed lack of strength, in 41 AD, Liu Xiu decided to depose Guo Shengtong's empress and establish Yin Lihua as empress.
After Guo Shengtong was deposed, her eldest son, Crown Prince Liu Yi, was not at ease in his heart. At the beginning, his son became the prince by virtue of his mother's gui, and now that his mother is deposed, what should he do?
His teacher, Qiu Yun, advised him: "The position of prince is already unstable, and it is contrary to filial piety and is in danger." It is better to take the initiative to leave the position of crown prince and concentrate on raising his mother.
As a result, Liu Qi repeatedly expressed his intention to his father through Liu Xiu's people and brothers, saying that he did not want to be crown prince and wanted to retire to the kingdom.
Liu Xiu was a little embarrassed, after all, Liu Yi was not at fault, was it because his mother was deposed, he opened his eyes and said nonsense, saying that people were not the eldest son of concubines?
Therefore, Liu Xiu dragged on for two years before making a decision: the crown prince should see whether his birth is noble. Liu Yang's mother was Empress Yin Lihua, who was supposed to inherit the throne and change her name to Liu Zhuang.
The former crown prince Liu Yi was very sensible and voluntarily retired to the domain, and I, as a father, should not let him fail to fulfill his wish for a long time. Liu Qi was specially appointed as the King of the East Sea.
From the beginning of the economic census Liu Yang's cleverness, to the time when the crown prince Liu Yi took the initiative to let Xian end under pressure, the biggest political struggle of the Guangwu Dynasty lasted four years and finally came to an end.
References 《Zizhi Tongjian》